Chance: More Than a T-Shirt Line

On any given day at the Bazaar offices, you'll see at least three editors wearing some incarnation of a striped tee. Whether simple and slouchy with jeans or neatly tucked under a tuxedo jacket, the look is timeless and chic. Julia Leach, the former creative director of Kate Spade and founder of just-launched line Chance, understands the appeal. "I've been wearing striped T-shirts my whole life," she says. "They fit into the wardrobes of ingénues and artists, rock stars and royalty — and the everyday woman."

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So Leach took her pedigree in creative branding and effortless style and set out to create the perfect striped tee. "Most of what I saw in the market was either very high fashion or too old school," she explains. As she explored — trolling vintage stores in Paris and inspecting Pima cotton from Peru — the idea got even bigger: "I thought to myself, 'I can build a whole world around this.'"

She named the world "Chance" — a lifestyle brand that's equal parts polished American and French nautical — and gave it a home at chanceco.com. Visiting the site is like taking an e-vacation — with a whimsical introductory video reminiscent of lazy trips to the shore and long weekends.

The Shopping section features the Chance line: simple yet beautifully-made T-shirts, shorts, tote bags and towels — and just about every other beach essential you can think of. There's also a "Discoveries" area, which showcases music, art, and inspiration for and about the brand in a blog-like format. "I wanted it to be very simple but very rich," explains Leach. This sentiment is true not only for the site, but for the clothes as well. Chance is certainly a world worth exploring — it's already a classic.

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